Here is a unexpected happy tail that we are proud to be a part of: Remember to microchip, keep your pets indoors and never give up!!
THE CAT CAME BACK, A DECADE LATER: a case for microchipping
I’ve had my missing cat back for about a month. She wasn’t missing for a few days,weeks, or even a few years. She was missing for nine years.
In 2007, I moved from Montreal to Toronto with Bungle. She was used to spending her afternoons in the quiet garden behind my apartment in Montreal and meowed incessantly to get out once we got to Toronto.
Eventually I started letting her out in the alley behind the apartment. It was a far cry from our old garden in Montreal, but it was safe. I put out a bed along with food and water so she could enjoy the outdoors while I was at work.
After about a week of her going outside during the day and coming in at night, she ran out the front door one evening. My roommate and I were standing on the front porch talking, and Bungle ran out and dove into the neighbour’s garden. My roommate lunged to go after her, and I told her not to bother. Bungle could sit in the bush for a few minutes then I’d go get her. She had been outside all day anyway, she was tired.
After a few minutes she hadn’t reemerged and I went to get her. But I couldn’t find her. Then I noticed that all the gardens on the street were connected. She could be anywhere.
I told myself she’d be back. After two days I called the SPCA to ask them if they could track her. I’d seen them microchip her when I adopted her two years prior, but at the time they didn’t explain what the microchip was for. I assumed it was a GPS. Of course, it’s not. It has my details on it in case Bungle went missing and was picked up.
I put posters all over the area. I scanned all the online pet rescue pages to see if she was there. I visited the pounds around Toronto. I was so worried she was in a cage somewhere and no one knew I was looking for her.
In the following years I moved back to Montreal. I kept Bungle’s medical records,just in case. I still hoped I’d hear from someone who found her. About two or three years ago I threw the records away. They made me too sad every time I found them as I organized old files.
In April my mom called me saying something about a shelter in Toronto that found my cat. She was the emergency number on the microchip. According to Team Cat Rescue, a volunteer had found Bungle living outside an apartment complex in January. They got her trust and brought her inside. When they took her to a vet they scanned her, just in case. It turns out what they thought was a 2 year old stray was my 11 year old missing cat.
She’s not the sweet cat I remember, yet. She’s rough around the edges. She definitely spent too long fending for herself on the street. She remembers her name somehow and comes when I call. I’m so happy to have her back. I like to think she’s lived her adventures and has come back home for retirement. She never meows to go out anymore. She just likes curling up on my lap or sleeping on the softest pillow she can find.
Sad Update: Miso was so happy to be home that it was like she waited all those years to be reunited so she could bring closure to hooman. A few months after the reunion she was living for, Miso sadly passed away.
